Abstract
As the number of handicapped people increases worldwide, Intelligent Wheelchairs (IW) are becoming the solution to enable a higher degree of independence for wheelchair users. In addition, IW Projects relevance is increasing, mainly in the fields of robotics and safety-related systems due to their inherent and still unresolved problems related with environment uncertainty, sale communications and collaboration methodologies. This paper describes the development of new communication system, based on multi-agent systems (MAS) methodologies and motivated by Intelligent Wheelchair systems, as a mean to enable fault-tolerant communications in open transmission systems and as an agent collaboration enabler. It provides an overview of the related work, the background and the main constraints to system development. It; proposes and discusses a new communication model, based on messages, for multi-agent; systems, that tackles the problems that exist in a dynamic and uncertain environment in the field of mobile robotics. The achieved results enable us to conclude on time effectiveness of the proposed communication model and its adequacy to the field of mobile robots in dynamic environments while establishing a comparison with a commonly used Multi-Agent Platform, JADE.

Abstract
Nowadays one can witness the increase of the world population carrying some kind of physical disability, affecting locomotion. With the objective of responding to numerous mobility problems, various intelligent wheelchair related projects have been created in the last years. The development of an intelligent Wheelchair requires a lot of testing due to the complexity of the algorithms used and the obligation of achieving a failproof final product. This paper describes the some need for an Intelligent-Wheelchair specific simulator as well as the requirements of such a simulator. The simulator implementation, based on "Ciber-Mouse" simulator, is also described with emphasis on analyzing the limitations concerning intelligent wheelchair simulation using this adapted simulator. The changes applied on the existing software and the difficulties of robotic simulation development are described in detail. Experimental results are also presented showing that not only the simulator reveals flexible simulation capabilities but, also, enabled to validate the algorithms implemented in the physical intelligent wheelchair controlling agent.

Abstract
In the recent years, game engines have been increasingly used as a basis for agent-based applications and multi-agent systems, alongside traditional, more dedicated, simulation platforms. In this paper, we test and compare different control strategies for specified high-level maneuvers in aircraft within a gaming simulation environment, each aircraft represented by an independent agent, focusing on communication necessities and maneuver effectiveness. An overview of the simulation environment's capabilities, with focus on the structured experiences system, shows the potentials of this platform as a basis for the more comprehensive goals of our project, allowing for the definition and execution of cooperative missions, such as surveillance and search & rescue operations.

Abstract
Ecological models may be very complex due to the large number of physical, chemical, biological processes and variables and their interactions, leading to long simulation times. These models may be used to analyse different management scenarios providing support to decision-makers. Thus, the simultaneous simulation of different scenarios can make the process of analysis and decision quicker, provided that there are mechanisms to accelerate the generation of new scenarios and optimization of the choices between the results presented. This paper presents a new simulation platform - EcoSimNet - specially designed for environmental simulations, which allows the inclusion of intelligent agents and the introduction of parallel simulators to speed Lip and optimize the decision-making processes. Experiments were performed using EcoSimNet computational platform with an agent controlling several simulators and implementing a parallel version of the simulated annealing algorithm for optimizing aquaculture production. These experiments showed the capabilities of the framework, enabling a fast optimization process and making this work it step forward towards an agent based decision support system to optimize complex environmental problems.

Abstract
The Airline Operations Control Centre (AOCC) tries to solve unexpected problems during the airline operation. Problems with aircraft, crew members and passengers are common and very hard to solve due to the several variables involved. This paper presents the implementation of a real-world multi-agent system for operations recovery in an airline company. The analysis and design of the system was done following a GAIA based methodology. We present the system specification as well as the implementation using JADE. A case Study is included, where we present how the system solved a real problem.

Abstract
This paper describes the strategy and implementation details of a cooperative agent team for the CiberMouse@RTSS08, a, robotics simulation competition. The paper introduces several concepts concerning cooperative robotics, giving all overview of its applications and challenges. It also presents the CiberMouse@RTSS08 competition rules and the associated simulation system. The proposed approach is based oil a deliberative architecture, thus providing an autonomous intelligent behaviour. A probabilistic mapping procedure, based on the Bayes' theorem, is used to maintain all internal world state. Quadtrees and A* are used for path planning and plan execution. A specific methodology was developed for beacon finding. The agents cooperate oil exchanging world and beacon information. In order to overcome the simulator's broadcasting distance limitation, a communication network between the agents was, created. The paper analyses the impact; of cooperation on this particular problem, by comparing the team's performance in four different situations: communication with network and beacon exchanging, communication without network, communication without beacon exchanging and no communication at all.